Press Release

Calgon Carbon Ready to Assist Drinking Water Utilities to Meet New EPA Regulations on PFAS Levels

PITTSBURGH, PA  –  04/10/2024

EPA guidelines mandate PFOA & PFOS to 4 part per trillion and PFHxS, PFNA and HFPO-DA (GenX) to 10 ppt; Calgon Carbon’s FILTRASORB® Activated Carbon is proven to achieve non-detect levels in drinking water.   

Calgon Carbon Corporation (“Calgon Carbon” or “Company”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kuraray Co., Ltd. (TYO: 3405) (“Kuraray”), today announced that the Company has spent the last few years preparing for the onslaught of PFAS-related demand for their most significant core business; drinking water.  

“We’ve been preparing for this day. We understand the significance of PFAS and the MCL’s, and we are ready to help communities meet these new regulations, and usher in a new era of safe drinking water,” said Steve Schott, President and CEO of Calgon Carbon Corporation.  

In 2023, Calgon Carbon celebrated the completion of a virgin granular activated carbon (GAC) production expansion at its Mississippi plant. The Company now produces more than 200MM pounds of virgin activated carbon annually in the United States.  

“We don’t call PFAS a forever chemical, because we believe we have the right approach to treat it,” said Jenalle Brewer, Senior Vice President, Drinking Water Solutions. “For more than 20 years we’ve been successfully battling PFAS; and I believe our suite of people, products, and services are unmatched in the industry.” 

The science behind Calgon Carbon’s approach to removing PFAS from water sources starts with people. 

“Each water system is unique and requires diligent testing before treatment can even begin,” continued Brewer. “Our researchers, application engineers, and salespeople ensure that our treatment approach will not only meet regulations but will be customized to deliver exactly what each utility needs. For over two decades, the Company has been treating PFAS in drinking water, wastewater, and industrial applications, using FILTRASORB® granular activated carbon (GAC). GAC has been considered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as the “Best Available Technology” to treat PFAS. The strong fluorine-carbon bond and low vapor pressure makes PFAS resistant to several conventional water treatment technologies, including direct oxidation, biodegradation, air stripping, vapor extraction and direct photolysis (UV). 

The Company recently rebranded their water filtration tanks to reflect a more aggressive approach in treating PFAS. AquaKnight™ Equipment Systems, large filtration tanks designed to create the ideal environment for the activated carbon, can be seen standing guard at hundreds of current customer sites.  

The last piece of the Calgon Carbon PFAS approach is reactivation. Not only a cost-effective solution, reactivation also allows utilities to lessen their environmental impact by circumventing landfills, eliminating hazardous waste liability, reducing CO2 emissions, and recycling the carbon. Different from incineration or regeneration, the Company’s proprietary drinking water reactivation process has been demonstrated to destroy testable PFAS compounds to near non-detect levels. The Company currently has five strategically located reactivation plants across the United States. 

Calgon Carbon has launched a website to demonstrate that eliminating PFAS from U.S. drinking water is not only possible but can be done sustainably with products that are proudly made in the United States.  

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NoMorePFAS.com 

 

Amanda Lofty 

Director – Global Communications 

724-541-2658 

 

 

About Calgon Carbon 
Calgon Carbon, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kuraray Co., Ltd. (TYO: 3405) (Kuraray), is a global leader in the manufacture and/or distribution of innovative coal-, wood- and coconut-based activated carbon products – in granular, powdered, pelletized and cloth form – to meet the most challenging purification demands of customers throughout the world. Calgon Carbon provides purification solutions for more than 700 distinct applications, including drinking water, wastewater, pollution abatement, and a variety of industrial and commercial manufacturing processes. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Calgon Carbon employs approximately 1440 people and operates 20 manufacturing, reactivation, innovation and equipment fabrication facilities in the U.S., Asia, and in Europe, where Calgon Carbon is known as Chemviron. Calgon Carbon was acquired by Kuraray in March of 2018.  With complementary products and services, the combined organization will continue to focus on providing the highest quality and most innovative activated carbon and filtration media products, equipment, and services to meet customer needs anywhere in the world. Visit CalgonCarbon.com.